Fires, Winds... and Snow?

Yesterday, Boulder reached 80 degrees, which broke the high temperature record for the day; the record low for the day was -2. Yesterday we had 20 to 30 mph winds all day - which helped contribute to a small wildfire on the west side of Boulder, which, thankfully, was quickly contained and extinguished, after burning less than one acre, but threatening 15 homes due to the winds. Another fire started yesterday up in Larimer County - it's being called the Crystal Fire, and is about 12 miles west of Horsetooth Reservoir. There were winds of over 50 mph last night, and the fire has spread to over 2,000 acres, and is completely uncontained. It's a very rural, mountainous area - residents of Stringtown Gulch and Redstone Canyon are being evacuated, as well as those residents living south of Rist Canyon Road. The reporters covering the fire at the evacuation sites are definitely city folks - as they exclaim over the people bringing in their cats, dogs, chickens, goats, and rabbits. The larger critters are going to stabling at the county fairgrounds - but people and small pets are being accommodated at several local public schools. .... It was 62 degrees when I awoke this morning, but we have a steady wind blowing at 25 to 30 mph again today, with gusts up to 90 mph. There is also a cold front sitting over Laramie, Wyoming, that will turn the wind from the west to the south... and the weather folks say we'll have 3 to 6 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. We'll see. I can confirm that the temperature is slowly dropping here, and that the sky, which was cloudless at 7 a.m., is now totally overcast. Let the rain and snow come in buckets!! I do not like fire! ... The kits are jumpy today - I don't know if they sense the coming storm or if the smoke is bothering them, but they are both "twitchy." Lovey and Nedi both slept with me last night. They are such wonderful little loves!

My Pride and Joy

Nedi on his first birthday - 1 April 2011

The Green Man

Lovey - 1 April 2011

An Odd Awakening

I have to admit that I slept most of Friday - other than walking the red kids and watching Jeopardy!, I read and slept all day and all night. Both Lovey and Nedi slept with me, and they both jumped up, startled, at 1 a.m. this morning - that woke me up. There was someone standing at the edge of the patio, shining a flashlight around the patio and toward the windows. Nedi hid under the bed; Lovey went to the cat tree to take a better look at the intruder; I put on my glasses, decided it was a human with a light, and as I sat up, coughed. When I coughed, the light outside turned off and I heard footsteps in the leaves close to the patio edge. I peeked out my window, and made sure that my chairs, Green Man, and new satellite dish were still in place. Then I just went back to bed. If I am awakened again tonight, I'll call the police to report it. Yesterday's Free Feline Friday was a success - 45 of 58 cats and kittens found new homes. Other than a 6-month-old kitten, all the remaining cats are between the ages of 2 and 12 years. If I had the room, I'd adopt one; but two cats and me in 500 square feet is more than enough - that's why my kits get to run outside when I'm at home. ... Being silly, I'm going to buy a couple of lottery tickets for tonight's drawing - it's $187 million. You can't win if you don't play. ;-) ... Just dreaming, of course, but if I won, I'd purchase a condo here in Boulder, a condo in Gainesville (Florida), a condo in Vero Beach, and a house and/or condo on Chincoteague. I would definitely be a conspicuous consumer in that aspect of things. I'm not sure what I'd get for a vehicle - possibly an Audi, possibly a Toyota. But the kits and I would just drift from place to place, as the mood took us - I am so happy that Nedi and Lovey love to travel! And, of course, these are only pipe dreams...

Happy Birthday, Nedi !

Nedi and Lovey have already consumed their special breakfast of flaked skipjack tuna in celebration of Nedi's birthday; and they've been playing in the sun on the patio and in the yard since 7 this morning. Today is also the birthday of one of my favorite writers - Anne McCaffrey, who created the world of Pern (one of my favorite places). After I walk Rosie and Remy today, I am "free" until Monday morning - I'll spend the time moving furniture some more, reading, and watching my 200+ channels of DirecTV, not to mention their 80+ channels of music... And, of course, loving and playing with Nedi and Lovey. There are only 8 entries in Sunday's $1 million Florida Derby - Soldat, Flashpoint, To Honor and Serve and Dialed In are all getting heavy betting. ... Saturday, April 9, will see the runnings of the Wood Memorial for 3-year-olds, the Illinois Derby and the Santa Anita Derby. ... A reminder that today is Free Feline Friday at the Boulder Valley Humane Society - 58 cats and kittens are available for Free adoptions. I went through all of my stockpiled catalogs, magazines and newspapers yesterday and got rid of a huge pile of items - not to mention taking out all of my empty Coke bottles and cans for recycling. The kits and I actually have room to dance in the apartment now. I have moved the TV from the north wall to the south wall, and the bed, just the opposite. I removed the cover from my love seat (that also opens into a single bed), and Lovey thinks that the love seat is now absolute heaven. She doesn't want to leave it. I need to take some photos of both of the kits to commemorate today's celebration.

Critters, Too

One of a pair of red-tailed hawks

who live in urban Philadelphia

Hyena pups in Nairobi

Male coots fighting in St. James Park

Critters

Today has been gray and overcast since sun rise. This morning the wind came from the east, but has now switched around to the west. We have another Red Flag warning, signifying high fire danger, in effect through 8 p.m. tomorrow night. Oh, joy. Of course, the weather folks say we'll get a "significant" snow Monday night.... And the Weather Channel says there's gonna be a Northeaster with snow on Friday, April Fools Day, for New England. - And Friday, Nedi will be 1 year old. If you live in the Boulder area, and are thinking about adopting a cat, Friday will be Free Feline Day at the Boulder Valley Humane Society - they have 58 cats and kittens awaiting adoption. Just think - all the critters are already spayed or neutered and are up-to-date on their shots - all you have to do is pick out one you like and take him or her home. If you can afford to feed and care for a pet, please do. - Oh, and, Squeeze, the cat who's head was caught in the pipe? He is being adopted out to a new home tomorrow. His new owner has a farm with a large barn and several feral cats that he has trapped and brought in for spaying and neutering. Squeeze is now neutered, and will be moving into the barn with a feral clowder. That's a happy ending! Remy and Rosie rollicked all over this morning when I appeared to take them for their walk - one would think I hadn't been there for days, when I was there twice (and the second time for four hours) yesterday. We had a great walk with the wind making the kids really frisky. Lucy was super, as usual. And Annie and Oly's family returned last night, so I didn't need to take them out. Lovey and Nedi were very snuggly this afternoon - but now that I'm on the computer, Lovey keeps walking across me and sitting on the keyboard, demanding more attention. I need to figure out what's up with her... Other than the fact that she is spoiled rotten.

I Am Healing!

Well, we got some precipitation last night... how much? I don't know. I can tell you that when I awoke at 5 a.m., my patio was dry, but there was a small sprinkling of snow on the grass near the fence. Some vehicles in the parking lot had less than a half-inch on their roofs, hoods, and trunks (if they had a trunk area). We are still 30 inches shy of our usual snowfall amount. On the western slope, however, it's a completely different story... Steamboat Springs has had over 400 inches of snow so far this season. And Eldora, just southwest of Nederland (on the eastern side of the divide), got 10.5 inches of new snow last night; while out on the plains the reports are of 4 to 10 inches of snow before the system turned to rain in Kansas. Friday will be the Opening Day of the Rockies baseball season, and we're expecting mostly sunny skies with a high of 73. That would be nice... Dr. P says that I am healing! And, unless my body double-crosses me, I shouldn't have to see him again. Of course, just as I was going out the door, he said, "If it comes back, you know where I am...." But I'm happy that I have actually made progress without any more stitches or cutting. Yaaa-hooooo!! - He said that if I continue healing at the current rate, I should be completely healed within the next 4 weeks; to "keep it clean, keep it dry, and keep on walking." You can bet that I will do my best to follow his instructions. Zenyatta has slipped her foal, and plans are already being made to send her back to Bernardini. ... Crocs, the local (weird, or natural - depending on your point of view) shoe company has donated 100,000 pairs of shoes to the people of Japan impacted by the earthquake and tsunami. ... Dana Stabenow's Though Not Dead is a knock-out book! I did not want to put it down at all. And it explains a lot of blood relationships between Kate and other major characters. I'm only sorry that it wasn't at least 2,000 pages long! Rosie and Remy were surprised when I reappeared this afternoon - even though I told them I'd be back after we finished our morning walk. Lucy was her usual super self; extremely well behaved until she sees a squirrel or cat that she desperately wants to chase. Annie and Oly were very good, also, on their walk. But we surprised the house keeper when we returned - she hadn't realized that I had come in and taken the dogs out. She was headed out the door to shake a throw rug, and ran into Annie. She seemed to be very shocked.... Lovey and Nedi had two hours outside this morning before I started my walk routine; they were not happy that I didn't let them out again when I ran home to shower before seeing Dr. P. I'll have to let them out when I return home this evening.